Miami Ready to Party for VMAs

Despite Hurricane Katrina, which claimed four lives when it hit Florida's southeastern coast Thursday, MTV's annual Video Music Awards show will go on, and host Diddy is promising this year's event in Miami will be one to remember.

"I'm not hosting an awards show," the entertainment mogul told reporters. "I'm hosting a celebration, a moment in musical history."

That moment was temporarily delayed as Katrina hit north of Miami, with winds hitting speeds over 90 mph. Most of the area was without electricity, and four people were reportedly killed – three of them when trees struck the vehicles they were in, the Associated Press reports.

Katrina was downgraded to a tropical storm after passing over the state, and most of the danger was believed to have passed. But the weather forced the rescheduling of many of Thursday's and Friday's events, as the storm approached.

With the worst of it over, Diddy can turn his attention back to the festivities, a role he says he has been busy preparing for. Calling his selection as host of the VMAs "a privilege and an honor," Diddy told the AP, "hosting is a certain art form, and hosting all those parties and showing people a good time is what I specialize in."

This year's show will include its usual mix of music and Hollywood celebrities, including Kayne West, Mariah Carey, Usher, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Eva Longoria, Pamela Anderson and others. But the event will differ from previous VMAs in that Diddy has no plans to offer a running monologue, nor will he joke around à la past hosts such as Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon or Jamie Foxx.

Instead, Diddy plans to be the cool, fashionable host he's made himself into – all from the background, of course. "It ain't the Diddy show, it ain't the MTV show, it's the show for the fans and the recording artists," he said.